Kentucky and Pennsylvania Long Rifle. A Piece of American
History
Forged in the Colonies, Used in the Alamo and at the Battle of New
Orleans.

Before we look at the legendary "Kentucky
Rifle", a little background may be in order. The name is a
little misleading. Sure, these were certainly used in and
around Kentucky during the 1700s and 1800s. But they were
also known in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Maryland, North
Carolina and any other region of colonial Appalachia, and worked their
way Westward. While used in all these places, they were
predominantly made in Pennsylvania. Not surprising when you
consider that this is where a lot of the German immigrants settled with
their Jaeger rifles, the basis of the Kentucky rifle. The
name "Kentucky Rifle" came about in 1814 after some 2,000
frontiersmen/fighters from Kentucky, under General (later president)
Andrew Jackson fought in the Battle of New Orleans, giving the British
a run for their money, using the Jaeger-style long rifles they brought
with them. After this, they came to be widely known as
"Kentucky Rifles. The phenomenon didn't just materialize
here, but was imported from the Old World. Even the
mass-produced Brown Bess and Charleville muskets had their roots in the
early Jaeger (pronounced Yay-Gur) hunting rifles of Prussia, a part of
what is now Germany. This revolution from non-standard
"wildcat" firearms to uniformity is an entire story in itself, and
we'll not go into it here and now. So before we name a rifle
after every state in the Eastern half of United States, it would also
be accurate to think of them as "long rifles", which is also an
accurate term. At the time, smoothbore muskets were the
common military technology, and rifles were used mostly for
hunting. The earliest Jaeger rifles originated in the states
that would later be known as Germany, in the late 1600s and early
1700s. Used mainly by hunters, (Jaeger is German for
"hunter") they were first introduced into limited military service in
the 1756 "Seven Years War" in Europe under Frederick the
Great. This was also the time that immigrant settlers in
colonial America (especially the German settlers who had set up shop in
Pennsylvania) were making long rifles by hand. The
Kentucky/Pennsylvania rifle is essentially the American version of
a Jaeger rifle, although from that point onward, they
developed according to Appalachian culture, and were lengthened to
accommodate better burning of the powder for more velocity.

At this time, very few people had yet
seized upon
the concept of using rifles for combat. They primarily used
muskets, usually with bayonets. However, hunting with rifles was--and
still is--alive and well. Firearms had just recently replaced
hand-to-hand fighting with swords and sabres as a major combat
technique, but not entirely. The bayonet was a throwback to
the use of swords, pikes and other polearms, and remarkably, didn't
disappear entirely until around World War II. In colonial
times, mainstream combat did not utilize the concept of taking careful
aim, but of marching toward the enemy, and laying down a devastating
volley of musket fire. Of course this was not practical for
hunting game. Rifles also took longer to load than muskets,
another reason that they weren't used for combat. Hunting for
game is where the rifles come in. "Rifle" meant that there
were grooves cut into the bore (inside of the barrel) to give the
projectile a spin, for greater stability, accuracy and distance,
something that is vitally important if you rely on hunting game for
your subsistence. Obviously at this time, all rifles and
muskets used the flintlock firing system, or a similar device and were
muzzle loaders. The Germans had laid the groundwork for the
future of firearms, and the rifle would eventually completely overtake
the musket as a military weapon, but not until over a hundred years
later. There were, however, those American colonials who made use
of these Kentucky/Pennsylvania rifles for combat against the British in
the American War for independence. Rather than lining up in rows
as in traditional military combat, they would hide out behind rocks and
trees and take careful aim, sniper-style. The surprised British
officers found this to abhorrent and dishonorable, but also very deadly
to them. Soon, stories were being told in England about the
colonist's deadly accurate and sneaky "long rifles." Today,
snipers are the precision arm of all major military forces. Even
though these tactics by the Americans helped to win them the war, the
rife was not adapted for mainstream combat until late in the American
Civil War.

It helps to understand that a lot of the development
of the Kentucky Rifle (or whatever name you prefer) was aided--like in
modern times--by traffic. Many settlers, especially Scottish,
Irish, Dutch and Germans, settled areas of central Pennsylvania along
what was then known as the Great Wagon Road. A travel way
that ran from Philadelphia--the capitol of the colonies--to North
Carolina. There was also a continuation of this road from
North Carolina to
Georgia, though it was generally not passable for
wagons. If you've been acquainted with that region, as I
have,
i
t would very roughly include what is now US 30 between
Philadelphia, running through Lancaster and York, branching out into
Interstates I-81, I-70, I-68 and I-40. The Great Wagon Road was a major
source of commerce, helped build up the colonies, as well as giving
rise to the Kentucky/Pennsylvania Long Rifles, and also is
geographically aligned with the cultural and technological development
of these rifles. This road was probably not much fun to
travel on in those days. Winding over the steep Appalachian
Mountains, following rivers, frequently flooded or frozen, across
rivers and streams, without the benefit of pavement. It's not
much fun to drive it even today, although it's vastly improved since
then, and much easier and safer. Driving fro
m Mechanicsburg,
Pennsylvania south on I-81 down into Virginia onto I-77 into
Statesville, North Carolina, then on I-40 to Winston-Salem would give
you a very rough idea of the terrain. It's very steep and
hilly there.

The commerce is still there, although much
more
developed. It's interesting to consider your history, and why
things are the way they are. Too many people seem inclined to
take the present for granted, as if history spontaneously started with
themselves, and don't pause to consider the long march of events that
placed them there. If not for the blacksmiths, farriers,
stables, gunsmiths, inns and taverns along the Great Wagon Road in the
1750s, do you really think you'd be able to stay in a Motel 6 on
Interstate 81 and have dinner at Red Lobster? It's not a
mistake that the old German art of making Jaeger Rifles ended up being
the basis for the Kentucky/Pennsylvania Rifle, which
originated from these areas. The Great Wagon Road helped make
them the American classics that they are today.

While small arms were a
technological development that evolved from cannon in post-renaissance
Europe, there is not good, solid documentation from that far back, but
rather individual accounts of a weapon here and there.
Firearms evolved much like societies do. Starting out
isolated, disorganized and undocumented, and progressing into an
ordered and organized system. This was the case for the
Jaeger rifles. They began to appear on the scene and became
more common, and that path of development eventually led us
all the way to the high-tech integrated-laser wonderguns being produced
today.

While firearms are
produced elsewhere, and while
gunpowder is an ancient Chinese invention, almost all firearms
technology and production is either from Europe or North
America. This is still evident in the proliferation of
firearms producers in the United States, UK, Germany, Russia, France,
Belgium, Italy and some other European nations. All
of the well-known small arms manufacturers are located either in North
America or Europe, even today.

Though a modern
Winchester lever-action 30-30, based
on the vastly successful model 1894, makes for a fine hunting rifle, it
is the artistic craftsmanship and often one-of-a-kind uniqueness that
really sets the old Kentucky rifles apart. It was common for
long rifles to be artfully engraved and gilded. And they were
a vital and necessary tool for survival, being used for both hunting
game, (food) and self defense. The long rifles saw some
military use against various Indians and the British in the revolution
since many fighting units were comprised of volunteers who showed up,
each with their own long rifles, set in their own caliber.
This "wildcat" approach to freelance arms was a common practice, that continued for over a hundred
years. David "Davy" Crockett wasn't the only person
who showed up at the Alamo with a "Kentucky" rifle. Unlike
modern firearms, many of which are fine products, the old long rifles
were known to have some fine, personal touches.
Kentucky/Pennsylvaia rifles had finely engraved scrollwork, especially
on patchboxes--an innovation that was developed among gunsmiths in
America--especially in the Appalachian Mountains, with carved
and polished wood, inlaid precious metals such as gold and silver,
hand-blued barrels, and more.

Unlike other guns that
I write about, both classical and contemporary, it's more difficult to
come up with exact, consistent information about the old Kentucky long
rifles, because there isn't any. Unlike contemporary
firearms, they were not mass-produced to a standard design, but rather
were hand-made by individual craftsmen, the skills and the arts started
in the German lands, brought over here by immigrants and passed down
through generations. For a very long time, this fine art was
in decline, giving way to mass-produced firearms, leaving behind only
rural, isolated pockets of Long Rifle artisans. The art never
died out altogether, but came close in the 1950s. Happily, in
the last 60 years, there has been a revival of interest in the fine art
of gunsmithing and engraving. Once again, there are
craftsmen producing works of art in the form of long Kentucky rifles
that use black powder--an authentic hobby with a growing fan
base.
They are popular not only with collectors, but with living history
actors, sometimes called reenactors. To have a hand-made long
rifle, complete with artistic scrollwork engraving is not cheap, nor
are the other items used by re-enactors, such as uniforms or other
period dress and all of the myriad accessories. This shows
that they are obviously devoted to the hobby or lifestyle, since they
are wiling to
go to so much trouble and expense for the sake of historical accuracy.
Reenactors often employ the actual military discipline and hierarchy of
the real war, itself. The further back in history you go,
the more difficult it is to recreate the feel of the period.

The Kentucky rifle gave
rise to a new culture of "mountain men". These rugged
individualists not only hunted and trapped game for the
purpose of getting food, but to collect animal hides, fur and
leather--which had become fashionable in London--to sell.
They would deploy themselves
to the mountain wilderness, usually operating solo, collecting furs and
pelts, and occasionally meet up at a rendezvous. This was a
large
gathering to buy, sell, trade, feast and get drunk, and to catch up
with old friends. This went on until well into the 1800s,
when industrialization began to overtake the rural nature of mountain
man culture and commerce. As America expanded Westward, the
mountain man culture lead to the development of a shorter, lighter
rifle, with
thicker barrels and larger calibers, to facilitate shooting larger
game. These came to be known as the "Plains Rifle" or or were
referred to as carbines. This eventually led to the manufacture of the
Hawken rifle, which
became common among mountain men moving westward towards the Rocky
Mountains in the fur trade. Of course, they all still owe
their heritage to the Kentucky Rifles of Pennsylvania.

Firearm Type:
Flintlock Jaeger or Flintlock Long Kentucky RifleNation Of Origin: Prussia, American
Colonies of Britain, United StatesMilitary Service: 1756-1836 (Hunting
Rifle-No official start or stop date)Variations: Jaeger, Long Rifle, Kentucky
Rifle, Plains, more. Ammunition: Various Calibers of Hand-Made
lead ballsWars: 7 Years War, American War of
Independence, War of 1812, Alamo, more.Recent Prices at Auction for Originals: US
$2,000 to $10,000